Professors. 4 years at a university made it profoundly clear that most profs are full of $#@!. There is 2 i have had in my experiences that doesn't have their head shoved so far up their ass. Pragmatism and real life doesn't seem to be a thing at a university. That is unfortunate.

Somebody get me a doctor, I ain't feelin' ill ...But I ain't feelin' this at all...

OT: Santa had a very powerful foglight powered by the tears of children, but it made him too visible and he had many problems with rouge pirate elves hijacking his cart and looting gifts. He originally had 30 reindeer but 18 have been killed off in various raids. Rudolf was developed as a stealth guide. His red nose offers a night vision array as well as a bio radar that transmits logistical data and air traffic directly to santas on board hub.

no no, not you, I meant to reply to the guy talking about how the atheism movement is bull$#@!

Except it is. Modern atheist movements are stereotyped as pretentious pseudo-intellectual hipsters who deify 'science' and exemplify some of the worst that the human race has to offer in philosophy. Which is a rather accurate portrayal.

Clowns like Dawkins have certainly not helped this 'mainstream' atheist movement either. The man refuses to debate professional philosophers\debaters anymore. He's just rotten at it. Proof in the pudding are some of his debates vs. Lennox as just one example. A fine scientist, pathetic philosopher. Arguably that charge could be levied at Hawkins although some of his more recent work appears to back pedal on his prior assertions (e.g. "Philosophy is dead").

I think it would be a far more suitable position to say that one is "agnostic" vis a vis "atheist", my distaste for the modern movement aside. It's impossible to prove a negative so people parading around the mainstream arguments 'against god' are more or less showing that they're just sheep incapable of deeper intellectual thought. No offense to present company.

To say that "I'm not sure if God exists, however I personally find it unlikely" is, to me, fine. That is a decent and defendable position. To say that "God cannot\does not exist" is... A poor position. Typically most atheists these days structure their ideology around having a hate-on for organized religion, in particular of the Abrahamic variety (Judaism, Islam, Christianity). Things become difficult when you start asking them about other, lesser understood, religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, etc.

So really it boils down on how you define "Atheist", as many people I'm close too prefer to liken it more to a strong agnostic position ("I don't really know for sure, but I feel..") vs what atheism's more commonly understood meaning is. "There is no god".

I also have no issue with the political aspects you touched on, such as gay marriage and the like. A secular government should have no say in these matters, I find it reprehensible that the federal government has so entrenched itself in our way of life that it can dominate almost all facets. Local laws of course play large roles too, but I'm more ambivalent there. That isn't centralized power.

I really never understood why it mattered if someone believes in God or not?

Anyways, the crazy thing with about most religions is that they are actually all praying to the same God, the One and Only God. The only real difference between these religions is the fact that they were written by different so-called prophets and the obvious cultural influence on said scriptures of these various religions.
All these religions tell you to love thy neighbor, etcetera, etcetera. Whether or not you pray five times a day is not going to make your religion inheritably different.

I honestly believe there is a God, but I don't believe in the manmade Gods we have created. I really just believe that these bibles out there are just the words of a man longing for God, and there is definitely nothing wrong with that. Religion brings a lot of people together to do good and it is a time when we all can believe in something beyond ourselves. The bad news is that religion requires you to look beyond logic and cast aside reason to believe in something that is beyond our reach; which is why religious cults can take advantage of those who seek God. That and many have used God as an excuse to slaughter others in the name of their God.

this is actually something our family discussed. My kids get what they want, as long as the deserve it, throughout the entire year. Next year, and every year there after, they will get a couple of gifts on Christmas, but the main focus will be them giving to the less fortunate kids. They even suggested that they give some of the gifts under the tree now to a homeless shelter, this year.

I love that my kids aren't that materialistic, and we've raised them to not care about brands, status items, etc.

That is the best way to be. I grew up that way and it made life much better for me. I don't give 2 $#@!s if my jeans come from Walmart as long as I like the way they look and fit. My parents didn't have money when we were younger until I was about the age of 11. My dad got a promotion and my mom got a nursing job. They had more disposable income but they didn't let that change the way they bought and provided for us. I commend you for raising you kids like that! Very respectable.

To say that "I'm not sure if God exists, however I personally find it unlikely" is, to me, fine. That is a decent and defendable position. To say that "God cannot\does not exist" is... A poor position. Typically most atheists these days structure their ideology around having a hate-on for organized religion, in particular of the Abrahamic variety (Judaism, Islam, Christianity). Things become difficult when you start asking them about other, lesser understood, religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, etc.

The 'hate' for those religions stems from the fact that they can sometimes, and often do, promote bigotry and ignorance combined with practices that belong back in the stone age.

So really it boils down on how you define "Atheist", as many people I'm close too prefer to liken it more to a strong agnostic position ("I don't really know for sure, but I feel..") vs what atheism's more commonly understood meaning is. "There is no god".

If the question was 'Does God exist?', then of course the answer is I don't know. If the question is 'do i believe in God?' then the answer is a resounding no, that's what makes me an atheist.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, buy you seem set on the idea that the 'atheism movement' is about the existence of a God, It's not.

I'm ambivalent to why the 'hate' has stemmed, the point is it has and these groups are characterized by their hard anti-organized (abrahamic) religions. These individuals could more aptly be described as 'anti-abrahamic' or 'anti-christian' as opposed to 'atheist'. Again, throw out some other lesser known religions and they'll sputter and grind to a halt (Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism) illustrating quite clearly that as an individual they're mostly reactionary to specific groups who believe in deities. This makes me dubious of claims that they adhere to 'atheism'.. Their range is too narrow and they seem exceedingly (emotionally) invested in the beliefs of others. An interesting mirror to their mainstream theist counter parts.

Logically if one does not believe in God then it should naturally follow that, to him, God does not exist. That is the atheist movement in a nutshell. They say that they do not believe there is a God and ,at best, tacitly imply God is not real until you corner them in a logical debate in which case they abdicate and say "Well, we cannot truly be sure if God does or does not exist.. But I feel (xyz)".

Atheism is an umbrella term that fits a wide variety of beliefs.. But I am not talking about all of them. I'm talking about the modern mainstream movements which are as I've characterized above.

How you personally define atheism yourself and live your life is not really included in my argument.

I would define the most logical atheist philosophy as being akin to a form of agnosticism as I've mentioned.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, buy you seem set on the idea that the 'atheism movement' is about the existence of a God, It's not.

This is simply not true. The atheist movement is entirely about the existence of a god and the lack of belief thereof, going back to its roots it was a philosophical position arguing against the reality of a God and often used as a pejorative. Look, atheism is a fairly broad umbrella and you can define however best you see fit for you. But the modern movement is hardly what you're talking about.

I guess the point I'm trying to make.. And sounding all too condescending in the process unintentionally.. Is that atheism is very broad. You can certainly be an atheist and not have anything in common with those that I'm describing here. You can be an atheist while not participating in the modern movement(s).

Google's stupid headings for your emails "social" "promotions" "primary" etc. It was fine the way it was. This was the reason I was no receiving emails, or rather I was but they were in these separate headings that I had to click on to find.

Google maps using the same colour for all the roads.

This is what we were all used to and all road maps you buy follow in the UK.Motorways/freeways = BluePrimary route = GreenA roads = RedB roads = yellow

This is google maps now ASll roads look alike and some roads are barely visible so make sit harder to plan the routes.

All roads = different shades of orange and yellow = confusign as $#@!.

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